The Yankees officially announced their Spring Training schedule this afternoon. Pitchers and catchers will report to Tampa on Friday, February 20th, four months from today. Position players report on the 25th and the first full squad workout is day after that. The regular season doesn’t begin until April 6th next year, which is why Spring Training is starting about a week later than usual.

The team’s first Grapefruit League game will be played on the road against the Phillies on Tuesday, March 3rd. Their first home exhibition game is the next day, also against the Phillies. The full Spring Training schedule can be seen right here. I’m sure most of their Grapefruit League games will be televised somewhere, but we’re still months away from seeing any kind of broadcast schedule.

Rangers hitting coach Dave Magadan did not get the Yankees hitting coach job, he confirmed to Susan Slusser. Magadan and Athletics hitting coach Chili Davis are the only people who have been confirmed to have interviewed for the job, and the Red Sox are set to hire Davis. The Yankees hired Larry Rothschild as pitching coach out of nowhere four years ago. Seems like we’re in for the same thing with the hitting coach job. Intrigue!

Via Rob Bradford: The Red Sox are hiring Athletics hitting coach Chili Davis to be their new hitting coach. The Yankees interviewed Davis for the same role last week, so this takes him out of the running. New York also interviewed Rangers hitting coach Dave Magadan as well as some other unnamed candidates. They could name a new hitting coach as soon as Tuesday.

Via George King: The Yankees are expected to hire a new coaching shortly and could have one in place before Game One of the World Series on Tuesday. “I interviewed Wednesday in New York with the Yankees. They told me they were going to interview a couple of other candidates. I don’t know if that was going to happen Thursday or Friday. They said they would make a decision shortly thereafter,’’ said Rangers hitting coach Dave Magadan to King.

In addition to Magadan, the Yankees also interviewed Athletics hitting coach Chili Davis this year as well as some other unknown candidates. They reportedly have some interest in Dante Bichette, Marcus Thames, and James Rowson. Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi, assistant GMs Billy Eppler and Jean Afterman, and pro scout Gary Denbo were involved into the interview process according to King. Denbo was the team’s hitting coach in 2001 and he could be moving into a more prominent front office role with Mark Newman retiring and Gordon Blakeley leaving for the Braves.

Via Erik Boland: Brian Cashman confirmed last week that the Yankees — specifically Joe Girardi — have talked to Alex Rodriguez about playing some first base next season. “Joe Girardi conveyed to me he talked to him, briefly, about him getting some work at first base,” said Cashman. “Joe had a conversation recently about that. How extensive that conversation was, I don’t know, but he conveyed it to me.”

A-Rod has never played first base in his career and, as we saw this summer, you can’t just stick anyone at the position and expect them to be adequate. It’s easy to get exposed at first. The Yankees will need a true backup first baseman next year since Mark Teixeira gets hurt all the time, and Alex is as good an internal candidate as anyone. He’s by far the most instinctual player I’ve ever seen. It wouldn’t be surprise me at all if A-Rod picked up first base quickly.

Via Jon Heyman: The Yankees have some interest in Dante Bichette, Marcus Thames, and James Rowson for their vacant hitting coach position. They’ve already interviewed Rangers hitting coach Dave Magadan and will interview Athletics hitting coach Chili Davis at some point in the near future. Bichette and Thames had been speculated as fits previously.

Bichette, who is very close with Joe Girardi and has a son in the Yankees farm system, was the Rockies hitting coach in 2013. He left the team after that season because he didn’t want to be away from his family so much. Thames was the hitting coach at High-A Tampa last year and Double-A Trenton this year. He’s earned rave reviews for his work with the team’s young prospects. Rowson has had two stints with the Yankees as a minor league hitting instructor (2006-11, 2014) and briefly served as the Cubs interim hitting coach in 2013. It sounds like the team has kicked around the idea of these three but is focused elsewhere.